Stability and quality of video transmission from user device to entity device

ABSTRACT

The embodiments herein provide an internet-based virtual travel system and method that allows people (viewers or virtual travelers) to explore any destination or location in real-time without having to be physically present at those destinations or locations by means of other people (serving as guides or virtual travel guides) who are physically present al the destinations or locations and use one or more mobile devices and/or wearable devices and/or accessories to stream real-time video. The internet-based virtual travel system enables viewers or virtual travelers to find and hire guides or virtual travel guides, virtually explore any destination or location anywhere in the world in real-time via guides or virtual travel guides, receive personalized recommendations regarding virtual exploration (virtual travel) options, make payments for virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions, visualize virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions on an interactive map or other forms of visualization, view promotions or product placements incorporated by guides or virtual travel guides during virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions, engage in real-time virtual shopping via guides or virtual travel guides, and make bookings for physical trips after virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/530,441, titled “SYSTEM TO PROCESS DATA RELATED TO USER INTERACTIONSWITH AND USER FEEDBACK OF A PRODUCT WHILE USER FINDS, PERCEIVES, OR USESTHE PRODUCT,” filed on Oct. 31, 2014, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/898,478,filed on Nov. 1, 2013, both of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments herein generally relate to travel and tourism, and, moreparticularly to internet-based virtual exploration (virtual travel) thatallows people to explore any destination or location without having tobe physically present at those destinations or locations.

BACKGROUND

Travel and tourism is a very popular global activity. Although travelingtypically involves physically exploring destinations, virtualexploration options are also available. These virtual explorationoptions involve viewing or exploring destinations or locations by meansof images and videos, and in recent year(s) digital simulations andthree-dimensional virtual tours. The drawbacks of these virtualexploration options are that they are not real-time and therefore notalways up-to-date, plus they involve interaction between humans andcomputers and hence lack the interpersonal benefits of interactionsbetween humans. There is some presence of web cameras in the travelcontext, but in these instances the cameras are typically static or havelimited mobility thereby offering a restricted range of view and limitedexploration options, plus they too involve interaction between humansand computers and hence lack the interpersonal benefits of interactionsbetween humans. Furthermore, the current virtual travel explorationoptions are not personalized thereby providing the same content to allusers regardless of their unique characteristics, interests, andpreferences.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, the embodiments herein provide aninternet-based virtual travel system and method that allows people(viewers or virtual travelers) to explore any destination or location inreal-time without having to be physically present at those destinationsor locations by means of other people (serving as guides or virtualtravel guides) who are physically present at the destinations orlocations and use one or more mobile devices and/or wearable devicesand/or accessories to stream real-time video. The internet-based virtualtravel system enables viewers or virtual travelers to find and hireguides or virtual travel guides, virtually explore any destination orlocation anywhere in the world in real-time via guides or virtual travelguides, receive personalized recommendations regarding virtualexploration (virtual travel) options, make payments for virtualexploration (virtual travel) sessions, visualize virtual exploration(virtual travel) sessions on an interactive map or other forms ofvisualization, view promotions or product placements incorporated byguides or virtual travel guides during virtual exploration (virtualtravel) sessions, engage in real-time virtual shopping via guides orvirtual travel guides, and make bookings for physical trips aftervirtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions, according to embodimentsherein.

One embodiments of the present invention is an Internet based virtualtravel system, comprising a communicator device for a virtual travelerincluding a graphical user interface; an audio and a communicationcircuitry connected to the Internet through a first network; a videodevice for a virtual travel guide including a camera, an audio and acommunication circuitry connected to the Internet through a secondnetwork; and an Internet based virtual travel circuitry connecting thecommunicator device to the video device through the first and secondnetworks, respectively, including a virtual travel server, a databaseand various interactive modules for communicating a streaming live or aprerecorded video with an audio or a text component between the virtualtraveler and the virtual guide for seeing and experiencing destinationsor locations worldwide of interest to the virtual traveler.

A further embodiment of the present invention is a method of virtualtravel, comprising: accessing an Internet based virtual travel circuitryvia a first network connected to the Internet through a communicatordevice; providing streaming live or prerecorded information aboutcharacteristics, interests and preferences of sightseeing destinationsand locations in real time or stored in a database of the Internet basevirtual travel circuitry, respectively; and streaming live or storingprerecorded video captured by a video device operated by a virtualtravel guide and connected to the Internet based virtual circuitrythrough a second network for seeing and experiencing the destinationsand locations worldwide of interest to a viewer without leaving acurrent location of the viewer.

An Internet based virtual travel system, comprising: a communicatordevice for a virtual traveler including a graphical user interface, anaudio and a communication circuitry connected to the Internet through afirst network; a video device for a virtual traveler guide including acamera, an audio and a communication circuitry connected to the Internetthrough a second network; an Internet based virtual travel circuitryconnecting the communicator device to the video device through the firstand second networks, respectively, including a virtual travel server, adatabase and various interactive modules for communicating a streaminglive or a prerecorded video with an audio or a text component betweenthe virtual traveler and the virtual traveler guide for seeing andexperiencing destinations or locations worldwide of interest to thevirtual traveler; and a mounting kit having adjustable members forhorizontally mounting the video device wherein the camera is facingdownwardly toward the ground for focusing the camera on a prism withinthe mounting kit that is in-line with the camera lens of the videodevice to provide a forward looking view from the virtual traveler guideperspective so that the virtual traveler sees and experiences what thevirtual traveler guide sees and experiences while at the destinationsand locations of interest to the virtual traveler.

These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be betterappreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with thefollowing descriptions and the accompanying drawings. It should beunderstood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicatingpreferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are givenby way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes andmodifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments hereinwithout departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments hereininclude all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a virtual traveler communicating with a virtualtravel guide via an internet-based virtual travel system in real-timeaccording to present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view, of the internet-based virtualtravel system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for enabling theInternet-based virtual travel system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a video device secured to a mounting kitconnected to a partial depiction of a shoulder harness in accordancewith the present Internet-based virtual travel system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a video device secured to a video devicemounting kit connected to a shoulder harness in accordance with thepresent Internet-based virtual travel system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a travel guide with a video devicesecured to a mounting kit connected to a shoulder harness on the chestof the travel guide in accordance with the present Internet-basedvirtual travel system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrating a video device mounting kit connection to a shoulderharness in accordance with the present Internet-based virtual travelsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a mounting kit for connection to a videodevice in accordance with the present Internet-based virtual travelsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of a video device secured to a mountingkit in accordance with the present Internet-based virtual travel systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a bottom perspective view of a video device secured to amounting kit in accordance with the present Internet-based virtualtravel system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a wearable clip-on video camera with a mono earbud andmicrophone in accordance with the present Internet-based virtual travelsystem of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous detailsthereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limitingembodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings anddetailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-knowncomponents and processing techniques are omitted so as to notunnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used hereinare intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which theembodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skillin the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examplesshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

As mentioned, there is a need for real-time virtual exploration (virtualtravel) that provides an up-to-date experience of a destination orlocation, facilitates human to human interaction, offers unlimitedmobility and exploration options, and delivers personalized content tousers, The embodiments herein achieve this by providing aninternet-based virtual travel system and method that allows people(viewers or virtual travelers) to explore any destination or location inreal-time without having to be physically present at those destinationsor locations by means of other people (serving as guides or virtualtravel guides) who are physically present at the destinations orlocations and use one or more mobile devices and/or wearable devicesand/or accessories to stream real-time video. Referring now to thedrawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, where similarreference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a user, more specifically a viewer (or virtualtraveler) 102 communicating with another user, more specifically a guide(or virtual travel guide) 108 each over a network 104 via aninternet-based virtual travel system 106 enabling the viewer (or virtualtraveler) 102 to virtually explore any destination or location inreal-time without having to be physically present at those destinationsor locations according to an embodiment herein.

The Internet-based virtual travel system 106 is accessible by anyviewers or virtual travelers 102 and any guides or virtual travel guides108 using any computer, tablet, mobile device, television, entertainmentdevice, internet connected display, or other internet connected devicethat is able to deliver audiovisual content. The network 104 used byeither viewers or virtual travelers 102 or guides or virtual travelguides 108 to connect to the internet-based virtual travel system 106may be the internet, a cellular network, and/or other types of networksaccessed in a wireless and/or wired manner.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 provides a person-to-personplatform and marketplace that enables viewers or virtual travelers 102to search, find, view, connect with, learn about, communicate with (viamessages, chats, calls, video calls, social media network messages,and/or other methods of communication), preview, review, compare, andhire guides or virtual travel guides 108 to facilitate real-time virtualexploration of any destination or location anywhere in the world orouter space where humans can travel to. Destinations or locations mayinclude but are not limited to islands, safaris, forests, mountains,zoos, parks, amusement parks, museums, villas, resorts, hotels, casinos,restaurants, bars, nightclubs, attractions, landmarks, shopping malls,bazaars, cities, neighborhoods, streets, towns, villages, festivals,events, beaches, oceans, lakes, rivers, other points of interest, andmore. The guides or virtual travel guides 108 may provide tours whilestanding, sitting, walking, running, cycling, playing sports,participating in water sports, participating in adventure sports,participating in winter sports, or performing any other activity, orwhile traveling in a car, bus, train, flight, cruise, or using any othermode of transport

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 by default facilitatesreal-time virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions between a vieweror virtual traveler 102 or a group of viewers or virtual travelers 102in one location and a guide or virtual travel guide 108 in anotherlocation, where the viewers or virtual travelers 102 can provideinstructions to the guide or virtual travel guide 108 during the sessionin regards to what they would like to see, where they would like theguide or virtual travel guide 108 to go, what they would like the guideor virtual travel guide 108 to do, and more besides getting information,recommendations, and more from the guide or virtual travel guide 108.This communication between the viewers or virtual travelers 102 andguides or virtual travel guides 108 may take place via voice/audio call,text based messages, one-way audio call and one-way video call, two-wayvideo call, text to audio messages, and/or other forms of communicationbetween the viewer's or virtual traveler's 102 internet connected deviceand the guide's or virtual travel guide's 108 mobile device and/orwearable device and/or accessories. The internet-based virtual travelsystem 106 can also facilitate virtual exploration (virtual travel)sessions between multiple viewers or virtual travelers 102 or multiplegroups of viewers or virtual travelers 102 in multiple locations and oneor more guides or virtual travel guides 108 in another location ormultiple locations. The communication (including but not limited toinstructions and requests from one or more viewers or virtual travelers102 and responses, infom1ation, and recommendations from one or moreguides or virtual travel guides 108) in this scenario between theviewers or virtual travelers 102 and the guides or virtual travel guides108 may take place via voice/audio call, text based messages, one-wayaudio call and one-way video call, two-way video call, social medianetwork messages, text to audio messages, and/or other forms ofcommunication between the viewers' or virtual travelers' 102 internetconnected devices and the guides' or virtual travel guides' 108 mobiledevices and/or wearable devices and/or accessories.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the internet-based virtual travelsystem 106 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment herein. Theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 includes a virtual exploration(virtual travel) server 202, a database 204, a recommendation module206, an interactive map/visualization module 208, an experience beforebooking module 210, a pricing and payment module 212, a virtual shoppingmodule 214, and an advertising/promotion/product placement module 216.

A guide or virtual travel guide 108 may stream video in real-time to aviewer or virtual traveler 102 over a network 104 via the internet-basedvirtual travel system 106 and more specifically the virtual exploration(virtual travel) server 202 using one or more mobile devices and/orwearable devices and/or accessories. One example of this is when a guideor virtual travel guide 108 uses an application on their mobile phonethat utilizes the mobile phone's camera and microphone to capture videoand audio and then sends or streams it in real-time over the internet tothe viewer or virtual traveler 102. Another example is when a guide orvirtual travel guide 108 has a wearable device, for example a hat whichcontains an Internet connected camera that is able to capture and streamvideo in-real time to a viewer or virtual traveler 102. One more exampleis when a guide or virtual travel guide 108 has an accessory, forexample a backpack, which contains equipment that helps provide astronger network connection in order to facilitate more stable and/orfaster streaming of video when using a mobile phone camera or a wearablehat camera to capture and stream video,

The virtual exploration (virtual travel) server 202 enables a viewer orvirtual traveler 102 to instantly hire a guide or virtual travel guide108 for a real-time virtual exploration (virtual travel) session. Inaddition, the virtual exploration (virtual travel) server 202 offers theability for a viewer or virtual traveler 102 to schedule a real-timevirtual exploration (virtual travel) session with a guide or virtualtravel guide 108 for a later date and/or time. The virtual exploration(virtual travel) server 202 also provides the ability for a viewer orvirtual traveler 102 to hire a guide or virtual travel guide 108 torecord a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session at a particulardate and/or time that would be made available for the viewer or virtualtraveler 102 to watch at their convenience.

The recommendation module 206 provides personalized suggestions ofrelevant virtual exploration (virtual travel) options (content and/orsessions and/or guides or virtual travel guides 108) to each viewer orvirtual traveler 102 or each group of viewers or virtual travelers 102via a recommendation engine that considers their (a) characteristicssuch as age, gender, relation to each other (in case of a group), and/oror other physical or mental characteristics; and/or (b) interests ingeneral or for the upcoming virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionincluding but not limited to experience based interests such asadventure, luxury, culture, history, romantic, culinary, beach,nightlife, leisure, and other experiences, and/or activity basedinterests such as camping, fishing, hiking, skydiving, surfing,kayaking, scuba diving, sightseeing, shopping, skiing, and otheractivities, and/or event based interests such as concerts, sportingevents, carnivals, parades, festivals, and other events, and/or locationbased interests such as islands, safaris, forests, mountains, zoos,parks, amusement parks, museums, villas, resorts, hotels, casinos,restaurants, bars, nightclubs, attractions, landmarks, shopping malls,bazaars, cities, neighborhoods, streets, towns, villages, beaches,oceans, lakes, rivers, and other locations; and/or (c) preferences ingeneral or for the upcoming virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionincluding but not limited to duration, date, time of day, weather,regional preferences (continent, region, country, state, and/or city),language, budget, mode of transport, location quality and/or rating,video quality, guide or virtual travel guide 108 rating and/or reviews,guide or virtual travel guide 108 physical and/or mentalcharacteristics, and other preferences. These viewer or virtual traveler102 characteristics, interests, and preferences (and theirprioritization, if any) may be explicitly provided by the viewers orvirtual travelers 102 and/or inferred by the recommendation module 206using its own data and/or third party data, The recommendation module206 computes personalized suggestions for viewers or virtual travelers102 using algorithms that consider the viewer or virtual traveler 102characteristics, interests, and preferences (and their prioritization,if any) as well as content in the database 204 (including proprietarycontent, guide or virtual travel guide 108 data, third party data, andother types of data) as well as any external or third party data andother factors, thereby surfacing up the most relevant suggestions inranked order. Instead of or in addition to receiving recommendations,viewers or virtual travelers 102 may search the database 204 forrelevant content and/or virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionsand they also have the ability to select an option in which the virtualexploration (virtual travel) server 202 will show virtual exploration(virtual travel) sessions at random, surprising the viewer or virtualtraveler 102.

In addition to providing a real-time video stream during a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session, the internet-based virtual travelsystem 106 has an interactive map/visualization module 208 that canprovide a real-time interactive map which plots the current and pastmovements of a guide or virtual travel guide 108 using GPS datatransmitted by one or more mobile devices and/or wearable devices and/oraccessories in the possession of a guide or virtual travel guide 108.This interactive map may be made available for a particular real-timevirtual exploration (virtual travel) session by a particular guide orvirtual travel guide 108, all real-time virtual exploration (virtualtravel) sessions by all guides or virtual travel guides 108 at a pointin time, all past virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions by aparticular guide or virtual travel guide 108, all past virtualexploration (virtual travel) sessions by all guides or virtual travelguides 108, all past virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions by aparticular viewer or virtual traveler 102, all past virtual exploration(virtual travel) sessions by all viewers or virtual travelers 102; allreal-time and/or past and/or planned virtual exploration (virtualtravel) sessions by groups of viewers or virtual travelers 102 and/orguides or virtual travel guides 108 grouped based on region/s,language/s, characteristic/s, interest/s, preference/s, popularity,types of locations, types of activities, types of transport, types oftechnology used, etc.; and other scenarios. A three-dimensionalinteractive globe or other forms of visualization may also be used tovisualize this data in addition to or instead of a two-dimensionalinteractive map.

For those viewers or virtual travelers 102 who use the internet-basedvirtual travel system 106 for the purpose of virtually exploring one ormore destinations, locations, and/or activities prior to physicallymaking a trip to visit those destinations or locations or to performthose activities, the internet-based virtual travel system 106 has anexperience before booking module 210 that provides the ability to makevarious types of bookings including transport (flight, rental car, bus,train, and others), lodging (hotel, hostel, bed & breakfast, andothers), activities, and more upon completion of a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session. An example of this is if a viewer or virtualtraveler 102 wants to explore a hotel and/or particular hotel room/sbefore making a purchase they can hire a guide or virtual travel guide108 (who may or may not be an employee of the particular hotel) to helpthem see and experience the hotel and/or hotel room/s in order to decideif it meets their requirements. Once the viewer or virtual traveler 102has decided, they may make a booking to physically stay in that hotelthrough the booking engine provided by the experience before bookingmodule 210.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 has a pricing and paymentmodule 212 that enables viewers or virtual travelers 102 to pay forhiring guides or virtual travel guides 108 in multiple ways, includingbut not limited to paying per view or per virtual exploration (virtualtravel) session, paying for a certain length of virtual exploration(virtual travel) session, paying for increasing the length of an ongoingvirtual exploration (virtual travel) session, paying for a type ofvirtual exploration (virtual travel) session, paying for a recordedvirtual exploration (virtual travel) session, paying for an experiencebefore booking virtual exploration (virtual) travel session, paying fora package of virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions, paying for asubscription to the internet-based virtual travel system 106, paying fora subscription to a guide or virtual travel guide 108, paying for aninteraction with a guide or virtual travel guide 108 or a set ofinteractions with one or more guides or virtual travel guides 108,paying for one or more guides or virtual travel guides 108 to performone or more specific actions and more. The prices of the virtualexploration (virtual travel) sessions may be set by the guides orvirtual travel guides 108 and/or the pricing and payment module 212,where there may or may not be minimum threshold amounts for particularkinds and/or particular durations of virtual exploration (virtualtravel) sessions.

In the event of a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session betweenmultiple viewers or virtual travelers 102 or multiple groups of viewersor virtual travelers 102 in multiple locations and one or more guides orvirtual travel guides 108, the pricing and payment module 212 willprovide an option to the guides or virtual travel guides 108 to set aminimum goal amount which must be reached in order for the virtualexploration (virtual travel) session to begin. In such a scenario, allthe viewers or virtual travelers 102 or groups of viewers or virtualtravelers 102 would have the ability to contribute payments towards thisgoal and there may or may not be minimum contribution thresholds. Whenthe goal is reached the virtual exploration (virtual travel) server 202would allow the viewers or virtual travelers 102 or groups of viewers orvirtual travelers 102 that contributed towards the goal to watch thevirtual exploration (virtual travel) session once it begins. Anyonewould be allowed to join such an ongoing virtual exploration (virtualtravel) session at any time during the session provided that they paythe minimum contribution amount, if any. During such a group virtualexploration (virtual travel) session or any kind of virtual exploration(virtual travel) session, the pricing and payment module 212 willprovide viewers or virtual travelers 102 the ability to tip or provideadditional rewards to the guides or virtual travel guides 108 for theirservices. In certain cases the internet- based virtual travel system 106may allow viewers or virtual travelers 102 to make requests for and/orto bid on (against other viewers or virtual travelers 102) particularkinds of virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions and/or particularguides or virtual travel guides 108.

The pricing and payment module 212 can distribute payments made byviewers or virtual travelers 102 between the guides or virtual travelguides 108 and the internet-based virtual travel system 106 based on theamount of commission that the internet-based virtual travel system 106would receive to facilitate the service. In addition to paying forhiring guides or virtual travel guides 108, viewers or virtual travelers102 will also be able to pay for various types of physical travelbookings as well as various forms of memorabilia related to theinternet-based virtual travel system 106, their virtual exploration(virtual travel) sessions, and more. The pricing and payment module 212may allow payments made by viewers or virtual travelers 102 to beprocessed immediately, scheduled to be processed at a certain date ortime, processed upon a certain event, processed at a recurringfrequency, held in escrow and processed only after receiving the goodsor services they paid for, and/or held in escrow and processed onlyafter receiving satisfactory goods or services. The pricing and paymentmodule 212 may accept payments via cash, credit cards, bank transfers,intermediaries, payment systems, mobile payments, email payments,virtual currencies, and other forms of payment.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 has a virtual shoppingmodule 214 that allows viewers or virtual travelers 102 to engage inreal-time virtual shopping wherein the viewers or virtual travelers 102could virtually explore shopping malls, markets, bazaars, fairs, shops,and more in other locations in real-time via guides or virtual travelguides 108 who will be physically present at those locations and assistthe viewers or virtual travelers 102 to view, compare, choose,negotiate, and purchase various kinds of goods or products. In such avirtual shopping scenario the payment for goods or products may be madedirectly or remotely by the viewers or virtual travelers 102 and/orin-person by the guides or virtual travel guides 108 on behalf of theviewers or virtual travelers 102 using their own money and/or moneytransferred to them by the viewers or virtual travelers 102 and/or theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 whether it be transferred totheir bank account, a debit or credit card, or by using some othermethod of money or virtual currency transfer. Upon purchase, the guidesor virtual travel guides 108 would ship the goods or products to theaddresses specified by the viewers or virtual travelers 102. In theevent that guides or virtual travel guides 108 use their own money topurchase goods or products on behalf of viewers or virtual travelers102, the viewers or virtual travelers 102 would pay back the guides orvirtual travel guides 108 v1a the internet-based virtual travel system106 and more specifically the pricing and payment module 212 byinstantly transferring them the money owed, making the payment at aspecified date or time, placing money in escrow which would be releasedto the guides or virtual travel guides 108 upon the viewers or virtualtravelers 102 receiving the goods or products they asked for, and/orusing other methods of payment or reimbursement. In such a virtualshopping scenario, the pricing and payment module 212 may enable orrequire viewers or virtual travelers 102 to pay a service fee orcommission to the guides or virtual travel guides 108 and/or theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 for facilitating the purchaseof goods or products.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 has anadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 that can facilitatevarious forms of advertising, promotions, and product placements. Inaddition to the ability to host image, text, interactive and other typesof ads (advertisements) on the internet-based virtual travel system's106 website, the advertising/promotion/product placement module 216 alsohas the ability to incorporate video ads before, during, and/or afterstreaming or playing the virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions.Furthermore, the advertising/promotion/product placement module 216 hasthe ability to incorporate promotions or product placements in a videoduring a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session. Examples of thesepromotions or product placements include but are not limited tofeaturing a particular restaurant during a virtual exploration (virtualtravel) session or mentioning or showing a certain store during avirtual exploration (virtual travel) session. Such promotions or productplacements may be introduced by the guides or virtual travel guides 108during a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session based oninformation that they looked up or received before the virtualexploration (virtual travel) session and/or receive in real-time duringthe virtual exploration (virtual travel) session from theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216. Such promotions orproduct placements may also be automatically introduced by theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 without the help of aguide or virtual travel guide 108 during a virtual exploration (virtualtravel) session based on image recognition technology, GPStechnology/data, data/information provided by advertisers, and/or otherdata collected from the mobile devices and/or wearable devices and/oraccessories of the guides or virtual travel guides 108.

To facilitate promotions or product placements theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 connects advertisersto guides or virtual travel guides 108. Advertisers can use theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 to identity andselect one or more guides or virtual travel guides 108 they would liketo run promotions/product placements with and/or destinations orlocations they would like to run promotions/product placements in and/ortypes of activities they would like to run promotions/product placementsduring and/or modes of transport they would like to runpromotions/product placements on and/or other options that they wouldlike to run promotions/product placements for. The advertising /promotion/product placement module 216 also enables advertisers to inputor submit relevant content or data for their promotions or productplacements including but not limited to text, audio, images, videos,latitudes and longitudes, descriptions, offers, discount codes,metadata, and more. This promotions or product placements related datamay be stored in the database 204 for later use and/or used immediately.The guides or virtual travel guides 108 may use theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 prior to a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session to find and select one or moreadvertisements that they may be able to incorporate during theirupcoming virtual travel sessions. The advertising/promotion/productplacement module 216 may also suggest relevant promotions or productplacements to guides or virtual travel guides 108 during a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session based on where they are and/or whatthey are doing and/or more. These suggestions may be sent by theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 to the guides orvirtual travel guides 108 via their mobile devices and/or wearabledevices and/or accessories using text messages, audio call, text toaudio call, or other methods of communication or notification. In orderto select the right promotions or product placements to suggest toguides or virtual travel guides 108 during a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session or to automatically introduce/show during avirtual exploration (virtual travel) session theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216 will calculate notonly the degree of relevance that a particular promotion or productplacement has to a particular virtual exploration (virtual travel)session and/or to a particular point or time within a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session but also the amount that theadvertiser is willing to pay for that particular promotion or productplacement as well as other factors. Advertisers may be able to pay afixed price for a particular promotion/product placement or type ofpromotion/product placement and/or pay a certain price for a group ofpromotions/product placements and/or pay based on the amount of viewersor virtual travelers 102 watching a particular promotion/productplacement and/or bid against other advertisers in real-time for aparticular promotion/product placement spot and/or pay using othermethods of pricing or bidding.

The database 204 of the internet-based virtual travel system 106 willcollect and store vast amounts of data from the usage of the system andits features and other data including but not limited to data on thecharacteristics, interests, preferences, demographics, psychographics,virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions, locations, devices,interactions, usage, selections, intent, payments, bookings,advertisements, promotions, product placements, video, audio,communications, transport, activities, movements, and more of viewers orvirtual travelers 102 and/or guides or virtual travel guides 108. Thedatabase 204 may also collect and store additional data from the mobiledevices, wearable devices, and accessories of the guides or virtualtravel guides 108 including but not limited to GPS data, audio and videodata from the locations or activities, and other location or activitydata derived from various sensors, Any of the data collected and/orstored by the database 204 may he analyzed and/or processed in severalways to learn more about the internet-based virtual travel system 106,viewers or virtual travelers 102, guides or virtual travel guides 108,advertisers, destinations, locations, activities, and more, Any of thedata collected, stored, analyzed, and/or processed by the database 204and internet-based virtual travel system 106 may be used not only toimprove the internet-based virtual travel system 106 and its featuresbut also to create reports and solutions that inform and/or help thetravel industry, airlines, hotels, tour providers, travel agents, onlinetravel agents, tourism boards, locations, activity providers,transportation providers, device manufacturers, technology companies,software providers, solutions providers, volunteer organizations,educational institutions, governmental organizations, and other relevantpeople and/or entities on matters relating to usage, volume, trends,intent, issues, opportunities, leads, and much more.

FIG. 3, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, is a flow diagramillustrating a method for enabling a viewer (or virtual traveler) 102to: virtually explore any destination or location in real-time via aguide (or virtual travel guide) 108, receive personalizedrecommendations regarding virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions,make a payment for a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session,visualize a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session on aninteractive map, view a promotion incorporated by a guide (or virtualtravel guide) 108 during a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session,engage in real-time virtual shopping via a guide (or virtual travelguide) 108, and make a booking for a physical trip after a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session, using the internet-based virtualtravel system 106 of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment herein.

In step 302, a viewer or virtual traveler 102 accesses theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 via a network 104. In step 304,the viewer or virtual traveler 102 provides information about one ormore of their characteristics, interests, and/or preferences. In step306, the recommendation module 206 provides personalizedsuggestions/recommendations of relevant and available virtualexploration (virtual travel) sessions to the viewer or virtual traveler102 based on their characteristics, interests, and/or preferences. Instep 308, the viewer or virtual traveler 102 selects a desired virtualexploration (virtual travel) session with a particular guide or virtualtravel guide 108. In step 310, the viewer or virtual traveler 102 makesa payment for the virtual exploration (virtual travel) session via thepricing and payment module 212. In step 312, the virtual exploration(virtual travel) server 202 begins the real-time virtual exploration(virtual travel) session between the viewer or virtual traveler 102 andthe guide or virtual travel guide 108, wherein the guide or virtualtravel guide 108 uses one or more mobile devices and/or wearable devicesand/or accessories to stream video in real-time to the viewer or virtualtraveler 102 in order to facilitate real-time virtual exploration(virtual travel). In step 314, the interactive map/visualization module208 provides the viewer or virtual traveler 102 a real-time interactivemap which plots the current and past movements of the guide or virtualtravel guide 108 during the virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionusing GPS data transmitted by one or more mobile devices and/or wearabledevices and/or accessories in possession of the guide or virtual travelguide 108. In optional step 316, the guide or virtual travel guide 108may choose to incorporate a promotion or product placement for theviewer or virtual traveler 102 to view during a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session based on information provided to the guide orvirtual travel guide 108 in real-time by theadvertising/promotion/product placement module 216. In optional step318, the viewer or virtual traveler 102 may choose to engage inreal-time virtual shopping via the guide or virtual travel guide 108,made available by the virtual shopping module 214. In optional step 320,after the virtual exploration (virtual travel) session, the viewer orvirtual traveler 102 may choose to leverage the booking engine offeredby the experience before booking module 210 to make a booking for aphysical trip to the destinations or locations seen by the viewer orvirtual traveler 102 during the virtual exploration (virtual travel)session.

The flow diagram in FIG. 3 demonstrates just one example of a flow inthe internet-based virtual travel system 106. The internet-based virtualtravel system 106 and its modules have several capabilities andpossibilities, some of which are detailed in the detailed description ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2, that can result in several variations of the flowdiagram demonstrated in FIG. 3 as well as different flows. Some examplesof when variations to this flow would occur include but arc not limitedto (a) when there are multiple viewers or virtual travelers 102 and/ormultiple groups of viewers or virtual travelers 102 instead of oneviewer or virtual traveler 102; (b) when the viewer or virtual traveler102 chooses not to provide information about their characteristics,interests, and preferences and directly selects a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session or when their characteristics, interests, andpreferences are inferred by the recommendation module 206; (c) when theviewer or virtual traveler 102 chooses to request a new virtualexploration (virtual travel) session instead of picking one that isalready available; (d) when the viewer or virtual traveler 102 decidesto join a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session with otherviewers or virtual travelers 102 or groups of viewers or virtualtravelers 102 in other locations; (e) when the viewer or virtualtraveler 102 pays for a virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionafter the virtual exploration (virtual travel) session is completedrather than before it starts; (f) when the interactive map/visualizationmodule 208 visualizes the virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessionon an interactive globe or another form of visualization rather than aninteractive map; (g) when the advertising/promotion/product placementmodule 216 automatically introduces a promotion or product placementduring the virtual exploration (virtual travel) session without the helpof a guide or virtual travel guide 108; and more.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 provides several benefitsand advantages to viewers or virtual travelers 102, including but notlimited to (a) the ability to virtually explore any destination orlocation in the ‘world from the convenience of their home or anywherethey choose without having to be physically present at the destinationor location; (b) the ability to virtually explore any destination orlocation in the world in real-time and therefore always have anup-to-date experience with up-to-date content; (c) the ability tovirtually explore any destination or location in a personalized fashionvia guides or virtual travel guides 108 who can show viewers or virtualtravelers 102 exactly what they want to see and how they want to see it;(d) the ability to virtually explore any destination or location viaguides or virtual travel guides 108 and thereby benefit from human tohuman interaction; (e) the ability to virtually explore any destinationor location via guides or virtual travel guides 108 who are completelymobile and can go to any place humans can go, thereby having access tounlimited mobility and exploration options; (f) the ability to getpersonalized suggestions of virtual exploration (virtual travel)sessions and other content based on their characteristics, interests,and preferences; (g) the ability to engage in real-time virtual shoppingvia guides or virtual travel guides 108 anywhere in the world withouthaving to be physically present at a shop, mall, bazaar, or otherlocation; (h) the ability to virtually experience any destination orlocation or activity before booking or making a physical trip; (i) theability to jointly virtually explore any destination or location withother viewers or virtual travelers 102 in one or more locations and/ormultiple groups of viewers or virtual travelers 102 in multiplelocations; j) the ability to virtually explore multiple destinations orlocations at the same time via multiple guides or virtual travel guides108 in multiple locations; (k) the ability to virtually explore anydestination or location at any time for any amount of time; (l) theability to virtually explore any destination or location for a fractionof the cost in comparison to physical exploration/travel; (m) theability to engage in virtual exploration (virtual travel) much moreoften than physical exploration (travel) due to its low cost andconvenience; and more.

The internet-based virtual travel system 106 can provide value to anextremely large audience, including but not limited to those who want tovirtually explore a destination before making a physical trip, those whoare unable to afford the cost to make a physical trip, those who want tolearn more about the world, those who have a physical limitation thatdoesn't allow them to make a physical trip or perform certainactivities, entities like educational institutions, hospitals, old agehomes, and volunteer organizations, those who are looking for a fun andengaging experience, those that want an alternative to watching moviesor television shows, those who want to view and/or experience what ishappening around the world in real-time, and many others. Furthermore,the internet-based virtual travel system 106 helps people around theworld generate income by becoming a guide or virtual travel guide 108.The internet-based virtual travel system 106 also helps improve culturalknowledge and learning around the world by making it so easy tovirtually explore any destination or location in real-time via a guideor virtual travel guide 108. And the internet-based virtual travelsystem 106 also provides access to new innovative forms of advertisingwherein advertisers can introduce promotions or product placements inreal-time during virtual exploration (virtual travel) sessions going onanywhere in the world through guides or virtual travel guides 108 and/orautomatically through the advertising/promotion/product placement module216.

In addition to being directly available to viewers or virtual travelers102 via its own websites and/or applications, the internet-based virtualtravel system 106 may also be distributed to other websites and/orapplications via widgets, HTML iFrames, application programminginterfaces, and/or other methods. These distributed versions of theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 may or may not be customized,may or may not be distributed for a fee, and may or may not offeraffiliate commissions to the other websites and/or applications. Otherfeatures of the internet-based virtual travel system 106 include but arenot limited to (a) the ability to enable a viewer or virtual traveler102 to record a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session and play itback while on a physical trip to that location wherein it plays back theappropriate part of a virtual exploration (virtual travel) session basedon the GPS data and/or other data and may show or overlay the virtualexploration (virtual travel) session footage next to or on top of thecurrent view of that location; (b) the ability to enable a viewer orvirtual traveler 102 to capture pictures or images from a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session as well as the ability to enable aviewer or virtual traveler 102 to superimpose images of themselves,their group, and/or their friends into the images taken from a virtualexploration (virtual travel) session; (c) the ability to enable a vieweror virtual traveler 102 to invite their friends to a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session, get recommendations from their friends inregards to which virtual exploration (virtual travel) session to choose,and share information about their virtual exploration (virtual travel)session with friends before, during, and after the virtual exploration(virtual travel) session; (d) the ability of the interactivemap/visualization module 208 to show or provide information on thelocations and other points of interests seen in a virtual exploration(virtual travel) session by means of image recognition, augmentedreality, GPS data, and other data and technologies; (e) the ability ofthe virtual exploration (virtual travel) server 202 to enable travelersto stream real-time video to friends during a physical trip as well asthe ability of the interactive map/visualization module 208 to show areal-time interactive map or globe plotting their itinerary or placeswhere the travelers currently are and have been; (f) the ability of thevirtual exploration (virtual travel) server 202 to enable travelers toturn on real-time video streaming or sharing while on a physical tripand potentially earn money from viewers or virtual travelers 102 whowant to virtually explore those locations; and (g) the ability of theinternet-based virtual travel system 106 and the virtual exploration(virtual travel) server 202 to host one or more applications that add toand/or further enhance their features and improve the experience forviewers or virtual travelers 102, guides or virtual travel guides 108,and/or advertisers.

Turning now to FIGS. 4-11, an adjustable cellular phone chest mount kit16 with a J-connector 18 for connection to a chest shoulder harness 20,a periscope 22 including a prism 24 therein permits the virtual travelguide 108 to effectively live stream video using a smartphone 2 whilethe hands are free for other tasks including operation of the smartphonecontrols such as a home button 10 that takes the traveler guide to thehome screen for accessibility to apps and other features of thesmartphone 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the smartphone 2 includes atouchscreen or graphical user interface 4, a microphone 6, a frontcamera 8, a back camera (not shown) to focus on the prism 24 in theperiscope 22 to view the surroundings, speakers 12 and a USB connection14 to download files and charge the smartphone. For example, thesmartphone mount kit 16 is compatible with any type of chest mountharness 20, including a GoPro chest mount sold by GoPro, Inc. Thesmartphone mounting kit 16 connects to the GoPro chest mount using a JHook connector 18 or the like. The smartphone mounting kit 16 includesan adjustable spring clamp 26 that is adjustable to fit any sizesmartphone 2. The smartphone 2 is placed flat or horizontal to theground in the mounting kit 16 with the touch screen 4 facing upwards.This orientation of the smartphone 2 makes the touch screen 4 on thetypical smartphone 2 accessible to the user or virtual traveler guide108 for starting/stopping the streaming video, viewing comments, seeingmaps, getting directions, initiating virtual shopping, communicatingdirectly with the virtual traveler 102 etc. The clamp 26 to secure thesmartphone 2 to the mounting kit 16 connects in such a way that it doesnot cover the camera lens on the back of any type of smartphone 2. Thesmartphone mounting kit 16 also contains the adjustable periscope 22that is attached to one of the spring clamping mechanism components thatis an adjustable rod 28 with a slotted knurl 30 on the end opposite fromthe periscope 22 to adjust the periscope to the location of the backcamera lens with the periscope prism 24. The periscope 22 consists ofthe prism 24 and is used to redirect the back camera (not shown) whichby default has the camera lens facing downwards toward the ground due tothe phone lying flat on the chest mount kit 16 so that the camera cancapture what is ahead or in front of the traveler guide. As statedabove, the periscope housing 22 is connected to the clamp 26 via the rod28 and the slotted knurl 30 is adjustable such that it can be placed ina way that can connect to any phone's camera lens regardless of itslocation on the back of the smartphone 2. The periscope 24 sits on topof the smartphone camera lens using round magnets (not shown) that arestuck around the smartphone camera lens and at the bottom of theperiscope housing 22. This creates a connection that is able to fit allsmartphone lens sizes.

Variations of the adjustable smartphone chest mount kit 16 with theadjustable periscope 22 includes: a) the clamp 26 using one springinstead of two as shown in FIG. 8; b) the angle of the smartphone beingadjustable in the mount kit 16 such to make the touchscreen 4 easier toaccess; c) the front camera 8 through the touchscreen 4 is used tocapture the face of the virtual traveler guide 108 whereas the backcamera (not shown) is used to capture the real-time view of adestination point; d) The smartphone mounting kit 16 also contains a 2axis or 3 axis gyroscopes to further stabilize the video: e) differentsize prisms or a truncated prism is used instead of the default 20*20*20prism 24 depending on the desired view; f) a wide angle lens is added tothe prism 24 to further increase the range of view of the smartphonecamera; g) multiple prisms are connected to the mounting kit in a way tocapture a 180 degree or 360 degree view making it an even larger rangeof view; h) a modified clamp provides adjustable height options so thatthe smartphone 2 is able to be seated either higher or lower on thechest of the traveler guide 108; and i) further, the smartphone mountingkit 16 contains a holder to store related items such as an extra batterypack for the smartphone, an additional wired or wireless microphone toamplify sound, and/or a modem or mobile WiFi hotspot for the smartphoneto connect to a wired or wireless Internet connection.

A mobile app allows virtual travel guides to live stream video usingtheir smartphones. The App may also contain software to increase thespeed and reliability of the Internet connection in order to provide ahigher quality and more stable live streaming video. This software willtake the data packets of the video stream, pass them across multipleInternet connections simultaneously, and connect them back together inthe cloud to provide an accurate video stream. By spreading the datapackets across multiple channels (networks) the speed of the connectionis significantly increased as it takes less time for the packets toreach their destination when compared to a single channel. This alsoprovides increased reliability such that if one channel becomes slow orfails, the other channel(s) take over. The software contains the abilityto a) connect the smartphone to multiple wireless local area networks orother networks accessible to the smartphone such as the cellular networkthrough the smartphone modern/SIM as well as another network through aWiFi connection or even a wired modem or another connection viaBluetooth; the ability to b) intelligently assign the data packets bypassing the data packets through different channels simultaneously alongwith meta data that identifies information about those packets such astheir sequence in the stream; the ability to c) continuously assess thespeed, latency and other information of each network such that it canoptimize the assigning of packets and start/stop using networks asneeded to enhance the speed, reliability, and quality of the videostream; the ability to d) connect the data packets coming in frommultiple channels/networks into a combined data/video stream in thecorrect sequence based on the meta data. The software has the ability topass only unique data packets across multiple networks or even to passduplicate data packets across multiple networks, and even set thresholdsof how many or what percentage of duplicate packets should be passedthrough different networks for redundancy purposes, and do soautomatically based on the optimization algorithms, or manually based onend user input. The software is agnostic in regards to whether thedifferent networks that are being combined are either the samecarrier/provider or different carriers/providers.

Variations of the software include: a) the ability for the software toalso work on wearable devices (in addition to smartphones); b) theability to perform image stabilization based on the smartphone or thewearable device mounting kits with inbuilt gyroscope sensor or anexternal gyroscope on the smartphone mount to make the stream lessshaky; perform image correction in the event of missed data packet/s byusing the data packet/s before and/or after the missing data packet/s tohelp fill in the gaps in the live streaming video.

By default most smartphones have a cellular modem as well as WiFi. Forsoftware bonding purposes this provides access to two differentnetworks/channels to combine or bond. However, in some cases where thenetwork is poor and/or the quality of the stream needs to be higherthere may be a need to combine more than two networks. For such caseshaving a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that contains two or more modems would beuseful. Although the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot has multiple modems it is a)able to use these moderns simultaneously; b) connect to a smartphone orwearable device via the smartphone/wearable device one WiFi connection,but provide access to all the modems of the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. Oneway to do this is to use a Raspberry Pi or other such processor andconvert it into a router, such that it can be connected to via singleaccess point through its WiFi. The Raspberry Pi or other processor wouldthen be connected to multiple cellular modems via USB and/or Ethernet(and/or even additional WiFi and/or Bluetooth connections). Softwarewritten for the processor intelligently connects to the multiple modemssimultaneously and collects data such as speed and latency which itwould then communicate to the software app on the phone or wearabledevice (via the Wi-Fi connection) to use fix effective channel bondingor combining purposes.

Variations of this device include the use of virtual SIMs or SIM cardsthat can connect to different network carriers/providers from the sameSIM card. The advantage of this is that the same device can becompatible across the globe as it could remotely be setup to access thelocal carrier network instead of the roaming network (giving it astronger and more cost effective network). Using such virtual SIMs wouldalso be useful in the event of poor network areas where onecarrier/provider may be have better coverage than the other provider andtherefore could be selected for the live stream in that particular area(without having to physically change the modem or carry along differentmodems).

All the live streams of video (virtual travel sessions) areautomatically recorded for later viewing by the end user 102. In theserecordings not just the live video is recorded, but also all of theinteractions, comments, questions, suggestions from both viewers 102 andguides 108 are recorded along with corresponding time stamps. During thevideo playback of a recording, there is the ability to play back notjust the recorded video but also all the interactions as theinteractions happened during the recorded video (the recordings andinteractions are played in synch). These recorded interactions arevisualized in various ways. One way is a vertical feedback that playsalongside the video player (overlayed on the video or placed next to thevideo). These recorded interactions are visualized in ways that allowviewers to skip to particular points in the video based on theinteraction, whether it be some sort of list view, a timeline view, oreven a word cloud type view, where viewers can select the interactionthey want to jump to and the video would automatically play back fromthe point of that interaction.

In certain scenarios a single virtual travel guide 108 may be showingaround several virtual travelers 102. Aside from multiple virtualtraveler viewers 102 having the ability to interact with the travelerguides 108 via text, voice or video based interactions, sometimesviewers 102 are given a poll—in which the viewer(s) 102 jointly are ableto vote on a particular topic and the majority vote wins. For exampleimagine a point at which the guide 108 can either turn left or right—atsuch a point the guide may choose to initiate a poll that then allowsthe viewers to vote on the options (within a certain time limit). Thewinning vote is then accommodated. These points at which polls can occurcan be planned in advance and set up by the guide 108 to automaticallyappear during the tour based on a particular GPS location or initiatedmanually by the guide 108 at any time during the live tour using themobile app.

Further in accordance with the present invention, groups of recordedvideos are either combined or played back in a way that providespersonalization options to viewers 102. For example, if in the videoplayback a guide 108 is at a point in which there are two options tochoose from (like left or right, or beach or city) viewers 102 arepresented with the ability to select one of the options (even though itis a recorded video) and based on their selection the next appropriatevideo would play. Videos recorded by one or more guides 108, in one ormore locations, are grouped together (across guides 108, locations,etc.) for such a personalized experience, giving the viewer(s) 102 morepersonalization than a typical recorded video (but not as much as a livevideo in which they are part of the experience and can control it inreal-time based on their interactions).

Recorded videos are tagged with several types of attributes, eitherautomatically based on image recognition techniques or manually bypeople (either internally by the company, its employees, independentcontractors or externally by users) creating a vast amount of metadataabout the recorded videos. Each piece of data is tied to a point in timewithin the recorded video. A system to create such metadata easily isprovided to users who simply select a tag (or create one if one does notexist) during a point in the video either in real-time or duringrecorded playback (with or without pausing the video) and with orwithout the option of selecting or highlighting an area of the video.The system automatically stores all this data along with the appropriatetimestamp (i.e. the point in time and optionally even the time range inthe video where such a tag occurs) in the database in an organized andoptimized fashion making it easily searchable and connected to metadatafrom other videos. As a result viewers 102 are provided with the abilityto search for and play recorded videos based on particular tags orattributes, whether it is objects (bridges, cars, mountains, etc.),living beings (people, animals, etc.), locations (countries, states,regions, cities, neighborhoods, streets, etc.), themes (adventure,nightlife, culinary, etc.), moods (fun, inspirational, etc.), views (eyelevel, chest level, aerial view, etc.), types of camera's (actioncamera, smartphone camera, drone camera, etc.) and more. The videos arecapable of being played back to back based on the tag, starting from orshowing only the part of the videos that contains the selected tag(based on the timestamps), and are played in a particular order(location based, date based, popularity based, itinerary based, etc.) orrandomly, and may or may not be filtered (based on location or othercriteria and attributes). The tags or attributes are searched orrepresented visually for users 102 to select and users or viewers 102are able to select one or more tags to play back videos. Users 102 mayshare these videos grouped based on tags—either the entire group orsnippets that are like the best. The recorded videos may or may not begenerated from the virtual travel system as this technology is capableof being applied to recorded videos created as part of the platform aswell as to other videos created outside the platform.

In addition to travel exploration and inspiration for the viewer(s) 102,the virtual travel system 106 is available for educational purposes(providing students in a classroom an interactive & personalizedaudio-visual tour to complement their reading or discussions in aclassroom), virtual shopping (helping people find and shop for itemsanywhere in the world that are not generally available online, or toshop for items from abroad in a highly visual way without having to makea physical trip), entertainment (as a new form of live, interactive, andpersonalized TV whether it be a travel tour, a reality show, or crowdsourced news), marketing (providing prospective travelers 102 a previewof what it is like to visit a destination or location), research(studying how people find, perceive and use products), cost savings(campus tours for prospective out-of-state and international students),conferences or events (private or public live, mobile, and interactivetours of conferences or events for those participants that are unable tomake it), sales (personalized sales tours of a property or venue topotential buyers or renters or event hosts), fundraising (non-profitsvisually showing the problem and what efforts are being undertaken tosolve the problem in an effort to raise awareness and donations),location scouting (finding the right locations for a film), construction(getting updates on construction progress), field service (helpingon-site technicians solve problems when additional guidance orassistance is required), social good (giving vicarious tours to users orviewers 102 who are either physically or financially unable to afford atrip—whether the users or viewers 102 are children in a hospital,seniors in an old age home, physically disabled people, financiallyunderprivileged people), and many more.

Sometimes the smartphone camera is not the ideal camera for live videostreaming, whether it be because of the quality of the camera, the rangeof the lens or the handheld nature of the smart phone. An adjustablephone chest mounting kit 16 with the adjustable periscope 22 solves mostof the problems and makes live video streaming a hands free experience,but live video streaming is still bound to using the smartphone cameraand the task of mounting a smartphone to the chest sometimes may not beconvenient. Some traveler guides 108 may prefer alternative methods tostream live video. This is where having a flexible external camera thatis still connected to a smartphone for the cellular connection to theInternet but is easily dipped onto a person is useful. The wearableclip-on video camera with mono earbud and mic is a solution to thisproblem wherein a small but high quality and wide angled lens camera isenclosed into a smart casing compatible with multiple mounts that allowsit to be easily mounted in various ways—including being clipped-on toeyewear or a hat The camera connects to a smartphone using a wiredconnection via micro USB, lightning connector, phone jack or otherinputs of the smartphone. The wire is split in a way that one wire goesto the camera whereas the other wire contains a microphone as well as amono earbud. The split wire limits the amount of wires and the wire isplaced in a non-obstructive position connecting to the smartphone in thetraveler guides 108 hands or pocket. The camera is generally very smallbecause the camera lacks a battery and uses power from the smartphone 2.

Variations of this device include; a) a multiple mic variation where thecamera contains an in-built microphone and that plus the microphone onthe wire where the built-in camera microphone is used to capture more ofthe environment whereas the wire mic is meant to capture more of theuser voice and both are synchronized; b) a multiple camera variation inwhich additional cameras (without the split wire with mic & earbud butwith or without the inbuilt camera mic) are used and mounted in a waythat captures multiple angles of the guide 108 (e.g. the front, back,right side and left side) and are provided to viewers 102 as multiplecamera angles or stitched together to create one all-around view and thecameras are connected to the phone using a hub that takes the input ofthe different camera wires and gives one output to the phone; c) agyroscope sensor is added to the camera such that the phone software canleverage it for image stabilization purposes; d) a wireless version ofthe device uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other wireless protocols to passthe camera video stream to the smartphone along with an built-in batteryto power the device and a separate wired mono earbud with mic orwireless Bluetooth headset; e) a necklace mount and a shoulder mount forthe device is also possible; f) an integrated version of the device iswired by default into eyewear or a hat but is also capable of a wirelessoption; g) an integrated version of the device incorporates a camerainto a Bluetooth headset where the audio goes from the headset viaBluetooth while the camera video goes to the smartphone via Wi-Fi oranother wireless protocol.

The foregoing description of the sped fie embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, byapplying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for variousapplications such specific embodiments without departing from thegeneric concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modificationsshould and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangeof equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood thatthe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodimentsherein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can bepracticed with modification within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: separating data packets withina video transmitted from a video device to a communicator device;assigning the data packets to a plurality of channels associated with atleast one of a first network connecting the communicator device to theInternet or a second network connecting the video device to theInternet, wherein the separated data packets are assigned to theplurality of channels based on a continuous assessment of latency ofdata transmission within one or more of the plurality of channels;transmitting, over the plurality of channels, the data packets with metadata indicating information regarding sequence of each packet within thevideo; and combining the transmitted data packets from differentchannels of the plurality of channels based on the meta data.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising: receiving, prior to theseparating of the data packets, the video from the video device, whereinthe video device is mounted within a necklace mount configured to bebound around a neck of the user.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein:the video characterizes interactions or feedback of a user with one ormore products of an entity; and the method further comprises: analyzing,subsequent to the combining of the transmitted data packets, theinteractions or feedback of the user to generate an analysis specific tothe user; generating, based on the analysis, personalized suggestionsfor the entity; and transmitting the personalized suggestions to thecommunicator device.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein thepersonalized suggestions are generated in real time based on one or morepreferences of the entity comprising an image quality of the video. 25.The method of claim 21, further comprising: performing image correctionwithin the video in response to one or more missing data packets in thevideo, wherein the image correction is performed by using at least oneof: a data packet before the missing data packet, or a data packet afterthe missing data packet.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein: the videodevice comprises a gyroscope sensor; and the method further comprises:activating the gyroscope sensor to stabilize the video.
 27. A systemcomprising: at least one programmable processor; and a machine-readablemedium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one programmable processor to performoperations comprising: separating data packets within a videotransmitted from a video device to a communicator device; assigning thedata packets to a plurality of channels associated with at least one ofa first network connecting the communicator device to the Internet or asecond network connecting the video device to the Internet, wherein theseparated data packets are assigned to the plurality of channels basedon a continuous assessment of latency of data transmission within one ormore of the plurality of channels; transmitting, over the plurality ofchannels, the data packets with meta data indicating informationregarding sequence of each packet within the video; and combining thetransmitted data packets from different channels of the plurality ofchannels based on the meta data.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, prior to the separating of thedata packets, the video from the video device, wherein the video deviceis mounted within a necklace mount configured to be bound around a neckof the user.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein: the videocharacterizes interactions or feedback of a user with one or moreproducts of an entity; and the operations further comprise: analyzing,subsequent to the combining of the transmitted data packets, theinteractions or feedback of the user to generate an analysis specific tothe user; generating, based on the analysis, personalized suggestionsfor the entity; and transmitting the personalized suggestions to thecommunicator device.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein thepersonalized suggestions are generated in real time based on one or morepreferences of the entity comprising an image quality of the video. 31.The system of claim 27, wherein the operations further comprise:performing image correction within the video in response to one or moremissing data packets in the video, wherein the image correction isperformed by using at least one of: a data packet before the missingdata packet, or a data packet after the missing data packet.
 32. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein: the video device comprises a gyroscopesensor; and the operations further comprise: activating the gyroscopesensor to stabilize the video.
 33. A non-transitory computer programproduct storing instructions that, when executed by at least oneprogrammable processor, cause the at least one programmable processor toperform operations comprising: separating data packets within a videotransmitted from a video device to a communicator device; assigning thedata packets to a plurality of channels associated with at least one ofa first network connecting the communicator device to the Internet or asecond network connecting the video device to the Internet, wherein theseparated data packets are assigned to the plurality of channels basedon a continuous assessment of latency of data transmission within one ormore of the plurality of channels; transmitting, over the plurality ofchannels, the data packets with meta data indicating informationregarding sequence of each packet within the video; and combining thetransmitted data packets from different channels of the plurality ofchannels based on the meta data.
 34. The non-transitory computer programproduct of claim 33, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving,prior to the separating of the data packets, the video from the videodevice, wherein the video device is mounted within a necklace mountconfigured to be bound around a neck of the user.
 35. The non-transitorycomputer program product of claim 33, wherein: the video characterizesinteractions or feedback of a user with one or more products of anentity; and the operations further comprise: analyzing, subsequent tothe combining of the transmitted data packets, the interactions orfeedback of the user to generate an analysis specific to the user;generating, based on the analysis, personalized suggestions for theentity; and transmitting the personalized suggestions to thecommunicator device.
 36. The non-transitory computer program product ofclaim 35, wherein the personalized suggestions are generated in realtime based on one or more preferences of the entity comprising an imagequality of the video.
 37. The non-transitory computer program product ofclaim 33, wherein the operations further comprise: performing imagecorrection within the video in response to one or more missing datapackets in the video, wherein the image correction is performed by usingat least one of: a data packet before the missing data packet, or a datapacket after the missing data packet.
 38. The non-transitory computerprogram product of claim 33, wherein: the video device comprises agyroscope sensor; and the operations further comprise: activating thegyroscope sensor to stabilize the video.